Forsta AP Fonden Buys 5,400 Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD)

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Air Products and Chemicals were worth $13,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Air Products and Chemicals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 2,250.0% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 1,700.0% during the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Air Products and Chemicals by 128.8% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on APD. Vertical Research upgraded Air Products and Chemicals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $336.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Air Products and Chemicals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $310.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $300.00 to $323.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Air Products and Chemicals from $307.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $326.12.

Air Products and Chemicals Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of APD opened at $318.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $294.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $271.73. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $212.24 and a 1 year high of $332.42. The stock has a market cap of $70.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.16. Air Products and Chemicals had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 21.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will post 12.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Air Products and Chemicals

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc provides atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment, and related services in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, India, and internationally. The company produces atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon; process gases, such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and syngas; and specialty gases for customers in various industries, including refining, chemical, manufacturing, electronics, energy production, medical, food, and metals.